Wright has given a verbal commitment to attend and play basketball at Division I Youngstown State.

A 5-11 senior, Wright averaged 20.1 points, 7.1 rebounds and 5.1 assists during her junior year for the state champion Saints.

Wright was considering a number of schools, and also visited Dartmouth, Yale and Miami, Ohio before choosing Youngstown.

"The environment felt friendly and the coaching staff seemed like a good fit for me," Wright said. "I feel good about my choice and now I can focus on getting ready for my senior (high school) basketball season."

A U.P. connection gave Youngstown recruiting inroads at St. Ignace. Current Youngstown coach John Barnes, an Escanaba native, first saw Wright play while recruiting former Saints' star Elmblad for the University of Wisconsin. Barnes kept an eye on Wright during his assistant coaching stops at Michigan and Wisconsin-Green Bay.

Wright is the third girls basketball player coached by Dorene and Doug Ingalls who has signed with a Division I university, joining Michigan recruits Nicole Elmblad and Krista Clement. Elmblad is a junior at U-M, while Clement played from 2005-08.

"I'm happy for Kelley and her family," Dorene Ingalls said. "It's a fun, but stressful process, and I know she feels relief to know where she'll play next year. I think having a familiar person (John Barnes) as the coach made Youngstown the front-runner to get Kelley."

St. Ignace is coming off a 27-0 season which culminated with a Class D state championship. Wright has played on two state championship teams and one state semifinalist. Wright scored a career-high 40 points in a game against Rudyard, and connected on a U.P. record nine 3-point shots against Sault High this past season. She was a unanimous Class D AP All-State selection, All-U.P. Dream Team and the Straits Area Conference Player of the Year.